Following a hunger strike led by social activist Sonam Wangchuk, which demanded the inclusion of the Union Territory of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule and the granting of full statehood, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement on September 25th regarding the ensuing violence. The Ministry clarified that the government is serious about the issues in Ladakh and has been in continuous dialogue with the Apex Body Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance with this objective in mind. According to the Ministry, several key decisions have been made through these discussions.
The Ministry’s statement highlighted that several historic steps have been taken in the interest of Ladakh through the High Powered Committee (HPC) and sub-committees. These include increasing the reservation for Scheduled Tribes from 45% to 84%, providing one-third reservation to women in councils, giving official language status to the Bhoti and Purgi languages, and initiating the recruitment process for 1800 posts. The statement also mentioned that although most leaders are satisfied with this progress, some politically motivated elements are trying to derail this dialogue. In this context, the government has taken seriously the hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk and his alleged inflammatory statements, in which he misled people by referring to Arab Spring-style protests and the Gen Z protests in Nepal.
